In All Our Merry Ways
by Justmeallthetime
Summary: A partner in crime! Shippo thought he liked the sound of that.


Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

_A partner in crime! Shippo thought he liked the sound of that._

O0O0OoO

In All Our Merry Ways

"Do you like flowers?" A voice asked politely.

Shippo looked up from where he had been staring at the dirt and wiped his eyes hastily. He thought that he had been alone outside, sniffling in pain and anger and rubbing the spot where Inuyasha knocked his skull in. _Ouch._ It was always _the same _when Sesshomaru came over. After all the grown-ups gathered to talk, Inuyasha would say something really stupid and they'd all fight.

Usually, Shippo just waited it out on Kagome's shoulder and agreed with whatever she said; she made more sense than Inuyasha, the main talker, anyways. But unfortunately that day he had hopped on Miroku's shoulder and, well, Inuyasha didn't have any qualms about punching him _off_ after he commented on the hanyou's, err, intelligence.

So the kitsune was forced to amble outside and nurse his broken _head_ while Kagome took over canine control.

And to make things even worse, Rin was there and she just _had_ to walk over while he was crying. It wasn't fair, and it was all thanks to _stupid Inuyasha_. Shippo cleared his throat and tried his best to sound gruff and older. It was bad enough that the eight year old girl was taller than him.

"Well?" Rin tilted her head and smiled brightly. Shippo felt his face turn pink. What was he supposed to say? Whenever Inuyasha or Miroku talked to girls, they usually ended up getting slapped or punched in the face or 'sat' into the ground and _that_ was when they were being honest. What in the world would Rin do to him if he told her the truth?

On one hand, she seemed nice.

On the other, Kagome seemed nice too. And that was after she broke two of Inuyasha's ribs in "The Incident". Shippo gulped.

"Err…" Shippo scratched his head nervously. "Not really since flowers are kinda girly. Plus you can't really have fun with them, they just… smell nice."

Rin shook her head earnestly and Shippo flinched and awaited the final blow.

"That's not true!" The girl exclaimed, and to his immense surprise she was still smiling. And he was still mostly uninjured! He blinked, surprised; did that mean that some girls actually weren't violent? "Rin has fun with flowers all the time! One time, Rin made a whole kimono out of flowers for Jaken – "

Shippo sputtered. For that ugly old toad? "And he wore it?"

"Yes!" At ease, Rin smoothed down her checkered kimono and sat down on a patch of dry grass. Shippo followed suit. "He did not want to, at first, but Sesshomaru-sama made him. He looked so pretty!"

Shippo snorted loudly, "As pretty as he can get anyway." At least he finally knew that flowers were good for torture.

"And _then_, Rin took them apart and braided them into Sesshomaru-sama's hair when he was sleeping! Sesshomaru-sama wasn't very happy, but," Rin lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Rin promised to untangle it after Rin drew a picture of it with the crayons pretty Lady Kagome gave me."

Shippo's green eyes widened to the size of mini-moons. "You… y-you drew…?" _Oh god_. The horrifying image came to his mind before he could block it. There was Sesshomaru, swishing his hips and tossing back his _daisy-woven _hair. Looking feminine and – _dare he think it_? – positively gropable by even Miroku's standards. _Oh dear Kami._

Before he knew it, he was on the ground rolling around and laughing for dear life while Rin pretended to look confused.

"W-wait, wait," Shippo gasped, clutching his stomach in pain. This girl was officially the coolest girl he'd ever met. What _genius_. "You mean you actually _pranked_ Sesshomaru? And you _survived_? _How_?"

For a second, Shippo thought he saw her smirk. But he blinked, and the next second she shrugged innocently and said, "Rin just thinks that Sesshomaru likes flowers too. So Rin drew it, so that he will always remember."

"_The… the blackmail…_" It was never too early to plot, and this was _gold_. "D'you still have that picture?"

Rin grinned shyly in response, that not-so-innocent spark of mischievous fun shining in her brown eyes.

Shippo visibly puffed out his chest and extended his hand, "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

OoO0O0O


End file.
